The crises of recent years have shown how fragile our supply chains are and how quickly they can be disrupted. As a result, a number of processes that manufacturers and production companies had outsourced abroad for cost reasons are being brought back in-house. It's only difficult if the expertise has also migrated with the processes.

The machining of steel in general and competent and economical milling in particular is influenced by many variables, the complexity of which can quickly become overwhelming. We therefore welcome tool manufacturers who think from the application side and can also advise on complex manufacturing processes.

The Swabian medium-sized company Karl-Heinz Arnold is known for its turning and cutting tools under the Arno Werkzeuge brand. What is less well known is that the company develops innovative milling tools and manufactures them in Germany. These include, in particular, a carrier tool for corner milling and HFC indexable inserts, a multifunctional system for HFC and corner milling as well as a face milling system and solid carbide milling cutters. In particular, a new system for face milling takes into account a current development. "There is a trend among users towards smaller dimensions of the workpieces to be machined, which are processed faster and at higher feed rates," says Marco Staiger, application engineer at Arno Werkzeuge. This is precisely why the manufacturer developed the FT face milling system 09. The FT system is very stable and is characterized by a smooth cut and very quiet running, which protects the spindle. This is made possible by a large face contact of the carrier tools, a positive rake angle despite the negative installation position and the differential pitch.

Smaller indexable inserts

The FT 09 milling system consists of two variants of stable carrier tools, which cover a diameter range from 20 to 125 mm and are equipped with eight cutting edges and matching smaller indexable inserts. The differential pitch of the carrier tools ensures a smooth and low-vibration milling process. The manufacturer promises a higher metal removal rate, especially for small oversizes, because higher feed rates can be achieved. "Because we were able to achieve a narrower pitch in the carrier tool despite its small diameter, we can now place more teeth in the tool," explains Staiger. This means that up to nine indexable inserts can be fitted, where previously only six were possible. It is clear that Arno's entire application experience is incorporated into the sophisticated milling tools.

This article appeared in issue 6/23